Lady in Red

What's the deal with Scarlet, the "new project" from David Nutter?

A few days ago, trailers began hitting the net for Scarlet, a new TV series directed by David Nutter. It stars Natassia Malthe (Typhoid in Elektra and Ayane in Dead or Alive) as the titular Scarlet, a TV actress who apparently comes out of nowhere to become a major new star... but nothing is what it seems with Scarlet, and her big secret presumably has something to do with that red eye of hers.

Nothing particularly unusual about that, you may think, since David Nutter has become known as the king of US TV pilots (having started up the likes of Space: Above and Beyond, Smallville, Supernatural, and most recently Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). But here's where things get odd: with the exception of the iMDB, Scarlet isn't listed on any of the usual sites - TV.com, The Futon Critic, Digital Spy and even Wikipedia make no mention of the show, despite the trailer's claim that it's a "hit new TV series" (which is, in itself, an odd claim since it hasn't even aired yet). Furthermore, it doesn't seem to be attached to any US TV network despite apparently having an airdate of 30 April, and although the official website does have some behind-the-scenes interviews with Nutter, Malthe and leading man AJ Buckley, all three are very vague about what the "show" is really about, while asserting that it will "change how people watch television" and that "everyone up to the President will be watching". Very strange indeed.

The popular rumour is that "Scarlet" is actually a viral marketing campaign, but it's hard to tell what it's trying to advertise. Could it be, as we have wondered here at SFX Towers, something related to The Sarah Connor Chronicles? Is it a legitimate TV show that's just been rather bizarrely publicised? Or is it, as some internet theorists have suggested, just an incredibly expensive and elaborate way of advertising a swanky new model of television? Apparently we have just under two weeks to wait before all is revealed.

Check out the trailer, stills and behind-the-scenes interviews at www.scarletseries.tv and tell us what you reckon.